Internal-combustion engine



F. E RUPRIGHT.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILEVD JUNE I6, 1921.

1,405,009. Patented Jan. 31,1922.

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INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16-, 192!- Patented J an. 31, 1922.

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INTERNAL-COMBUSTION. ENGINE.

l Application filed June 16,

To all whom; it may concern.

Be it known that I, 'FREDRIOK Bur-- RIGHT, a citizen of the United States, resid'- ing at Grand Haven, in the county of Ottawa and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Internal-Combustion Engine, of

which the followingis aspecification.

The device forming the subject matter of. this application is an internal combustion engine of that type in which pistons, connected to a single rod, reciprocate'in alined cylinders, the charges being fired at the' inner or adjacent ends of the cylinders.

It is the object of this invention to provide novel means for lubricating the pistons and the cylinders from the crank case. The invention aims, further, to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the inventionappertains.

. With the above and other objects in view,

which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that, 'with-. in the scope of what is claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of the invention shown can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows in vertical section, an engine constructed in accordance with the invention, parts r'emainin in elevation; and Figure 2 is a detail en arged from Figure 1, some parts appearin in section which are shown in elevation in igure 1.

The frame of the engine includes a base 1 to which a crank case 2 is attached, a shaft 3 being journaled in the base and being .provided with cranks 4.' The shaft 3 carries a fly wheel 5. The timing mechanism may be of any desired sort,..and.is omitted, since, in this application, no claims specific to a timing mechanism can be made. Let it suffice to say that the shaft 3 may carry a gear wheel 6 constituting a part of the timing means.

vLower cylinders 7 aresuperposed upon and secured to the base 2, upper cylinders 8 being shown, the cylinders 7 and 8 being connected by a tubular guide 9. The admission and exhaust ports are shown at 10 and are located near to the inner or ad- 55 jacent ends of the cylinders 7 and 8, the

- Specification of Letters Patent.

supplied with lateral communlcatlon between the bore.'12 of the Patented Jan. 31, 1922. 1921..- Serial o. 478,136.

charges being fired, one at a time, in the inner ends of the cylinders, and the pistons, herelnafter. described, moving outwardly to performthe power stroke.

1 l hollow piston rod 11. is mounted for reciprocation 1n the tubular guide 9 and has a longitudinal bore 12, the piston rod being ports 14:, establishing piston rod andthe interior of the tubular gulde 9. The piston 'rod 11 is supplied with ,packing rings 24, operating in the guide 9 and located on opposite sides of the rings 24, to the end that there may be practically no leakage of the lubricant from the tubular 7 0 gu de 9 into the compression chambers which exlst at the inner ends of the cylinders 7 and 8. The piston rod! 11 is provided at its ends with reduced threaded tips 16 and 26 defining shoulders 15. A piston 18 of cup-shape is mounted for reciprocation in the cylinder 7. A' pitman 36 is pivoted at 37 to the piston 18 and is connected operatively with the crank 4. I A cup-shaped piston 17 ismounted for reclprocation in the cylinder 8. The pistons 17 and 18 cooperate with the shoulders 15 of the piston rod 11, the piston 17 being carried by the tip 16, and the piston 18 being carried 'by the tip 26. The tips 16 35 and 26 not only are threaded into the pistons but, as well, nuts 19 are mounted on the tips, the nuts engaging with the bases of the pistons. The pistons 17 and 18 are surrounded by packing rings '20., The ti 26 has lateral passages 21, communicating with lateral passages 22 in the base'of' the piston 18, the passages 21 and 22 cooperating to define ports leading from the bore 12 of the piston rod 11 to one of the grooves 23 in which the packing rings 2O of the piston 18 are located.

The cylinders 8 carry a head 25 provided with chambers 27 communicating with the cylinders 8. A valve casing 28 is threaded 109 or mounted otherwise in the head 25 and is provided with a compartment 29. There arev lateral openings 30 in the valve casing 28, these openings communicating at their inner ends with the compartment 29, andcommunicating at their outer ends with openings 31 in the head 25, the openings 31 leading to the chambers27.- A valve 32 is located in the compartment 29 of the valve casing 28 and is mounted pivotally at 33 to swing, responsive the pressure producedin the c linders 8, when the pistons .17 move upward y.' The valve 32, swinging from the.

point 33, is adapted to close the openings 3), one at a time. The upper end of a conduit 34is mounted n the valve casing 28, the conduit communicating with the chamber 32. Atits lower end, the conduit 34 opens into as crank case 2, as

18 and 17 move downwardly, compression-is produced in the'crank case 2 and the olly vapor moves upwardly, the vapor traversing the bore 12 of the piston rod 11. The lubricant finds its way through the passages 21 vapor is compressed and is forced, through the chamber 27 and through the openings 31 and 30 into the conduit 34:, the lubricant thus being returned to the crank case 2. When the oily vapor moves to the right (Figure 2) through the openings 31 and 30, into the compartment 29, the valve 32 is swung to a closed position with respect to the openings 30 and 31 which are individual to the right hand cylinder 8 in Figure 2. As a result, the oily vapor is compelled to move downwardly through the conduit 34: into the crank case 2, it being impossible for a mass of vapor to oscillate or see-saw back and forth, between the upper end of one cylinder 8 and the upper end of the other cylinder 8, through the openings 30' and 31, across the compartment 29. A circulation of oily vapor is produced, owing to the presence of the valve 32, and the cylinders '8 and the pistons 17 are lubricated adequately.

I claim 1. In an internal combustion engine, a crank case; a cylinder; a piston mounted to reciprocate in the cylinder and defining a firing chamber at the inner end of the cylinder and a lubricant chamber at the outer end of the cylinder; a hollow rod carrying the piston and establishing communication be tween the crank case and the lubricant chamshown at35 in Figure 1. In practical operation, when the pistons;

her; a conduit leadin g -from the lubricant I chamberto the crankcase; and means for constraining-the lubricant to circulate. v

' 2. An internal combustion engine, con structed as set forth in claim 1,'and further characterized by the fact that said means consists of a check valve controlling the flow" of lubricant through the conduit.- 3. In an internal combustion engine, a crankcase; cylinders; pistons mounted to reciprocate in the cylinders, each piston dev fining a firing chamber; at the inner end of one cylinder and a lubricant chamber at the outer end thereof; hollow rods carrying the pistons and establishing communication. be-

tween the crank case and the lubricantchambers'; a conduit leading from'the-lubricant chambers to the crank case; and a valve controll ng the passage of lubricant from either lubricant chamber to the conduit, the valve closing with respect to one lubricant cham- I her, responsive to an increase of pressure in I the other lubricant chamber.

4. In an internal combustion engine, a

crank case; alined cylinders and a guide connecting the cylinders; pistons mounted to reclprocate in the cylinders, the pistons defining firing chambers in the inner ends of the cylinders, one piston defining a lubricant chamber in the outer end of one cylinder; a hollow piston rod. mounted for reciprocation 1n the guide, the piston rod' carrying the pistons and establishing communication be tween the crank case and the lubricantchamher, the piston rod having a port discharging within the guide, the piston rod and the v other piston having a conduit' discharging within the cylinder of said other piston, the conduit and the port communicating with the interior of the piston rod; means for returning the lubricant from the lubricant chamber to the crank case; and means for constraining the lubricant to flow in a circuit.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

- FBEDRICK E. RUPRIGHT.

Witnesses: I

JOHN HOFFMAN,

CHARLES E. MISNER. 

